2019
Durban

In order to maintain its professional corporate image, Sika South Africa undertook a refurbishment project in the company’s head office reception area, which included structural and aesthetic upgrades to the walls and flooring.

 

Project Requirements

Sika South Africa’s head office is located in Westmead, Pinetown, and is renowned for supplying specialty chemicals to the building and automotive industries.

Since flooring is one of Sika’s areas of expertise, they were in the perfect position to use their very own acclaimed flooring solutions and skilled in-house technical experts for the upgrade of the head office reception area. A challenge that was easily overcome with careful thought and preparation, was the high volume of foot traffic that would still need to pass through the central reception area to access their respective offices whilst the renovation process was underway.

The initial phase of the project began in October 2018, when Sika’s specialised flooring products were specified by Sika’s very own floor expert. Mark Griesel. The overall goal was for the floor to have an attractive and clean decorative finish, which is precisely what was accomplished.

Sika Solutions

In preparation, the existing tiles had to be removed, at which point it was noted how much the screed beneath had deteriorated, with major cracks running through. The cracks were subsequently filled with Sikadur®-52 ZA, a two-part, solvent-free, low viscosity injection-liquid based on high strength epoxy resins. The expertise of Concrete Laser Flooring (CLF) was called on to provide a top quality finish with their dedicated team and equipment. CLF assisted with the preparation of the floor to achieve the perfect finish to the substrate, whereafter the final decorative system was applied.

The methodology was priming the existing concrete surface with Sikafloor®-161 Primer followed by a scraper coat of Sikafloor®-161 Primer filled with Sika Extender T to avoid any outgassing that could cause pin-holing.  The top coat was applied with a combination of Sikafloor® DecoFiller and Sikafloor®-304W clear matte.

Sikafloor® DecoFiller is a combination of Sikafloor®-169 clear epoxy resin and Sikafloor® DecoFiller certified synthetic fine filler that provides a highly aesthetic and decorative yet durable flooring system. CLF again provided support for the priming and laying of the SikaFloor® Decofiller system. Together, Sika and CLF provided a finish of truly international standards for decorative flooring.

The stair risers and walls were primed with Sikafloor®-161, binded with Sikadur®-932 coarse silica sand. All vertical surfaces were covered with Sikafloor® DecoFiller and thereafter sealed with two coats of Sikafloor®-304 W, a low VOC, clear, two-part, water-based polyurethane matte coat.

Whilst renovations were on the go, and as part of the reception revamp, Sika took the opportunity to create a green garden from an old existing pond feature. The chosen waterproofing system was the trusted Sikalastic® MTC green roof system that has root-resistant properties. The system comprised Sikalastic®-601BC, a cold-applied, seamless, highly elastic, one-component, root-resistant, polyurethane base coat, reinforced with Sika Reemat Premium Glass Fibre. Sikalastic®-621 TC, which is finally used as a top coat to create a tough, highly durable waterproofing system that is seamless and root-resistant.

Despite minor challenges, Sika’s high quality products enabled this project to be a showpiece for their special range of decorative flooring systems.

Products used: